(Chapter 78) Dinner Date

A:N (Just wanted to quickly apologize for the lack of updates in the last weeks. Having your laptop no longer connect to the internet isn't very beneficial for this type of thing. :( Anyways, expect me to struggle to keep continuity because of this. *Sigh* Anyway, enjoy!)

"Please follow me sir." The manager of a 6-star restaurant bowed to his newly received guests. He recognized the man to be the Guilliano family Master. While he didn't even dare to question the woman's identity...

Lewis and Astrid were led to the highest floor within the restaurant. It rivaled the Eiffel Tower in height and people had the view of the entire city of Paris from the vantage point. Lewis was quite regretful that he couldn't get Astrid to eat at night, since he heard the view was spectacular when the lights sparkled. But he couldn't complain about that. Just getting Astrid in for lunch would be good enough for him right now...

The restaurant was also a hotel combined, owned by the same business they have the best service, food, and privacy in the country. Being a hotspot for those wishing for romance or executive business deals or even hosting parties.

Being in one of the most highly rated restaurants in the world, Astrid was calmly gazing around. While the manager thought Astrid was just looking in awe, Lewis knew what she was doing...

The manager personally sat the VVIP's and went off to the kitchen to make sure the chefs made no errors. They had gotten the orders beforehand, and they also had an exact timing on when they should deliver the food...

"Astrid, you do realize this is a date right?" Lewis lightly asked her as he poured her a glass of wine that was ready on the table.

Astrid nodded blankly. "Hmm, that's a good start." Lewis mumbled, he didn't have to start with the basics then...

"So why are you looking around so calculatingly? I propose this, for the time we are here. Don't think about business, don't think about how safe we are here. I made sure the security will be perfect, no there won't be anyone who could recognize you or put your life at risk." Lewis started to list off some things to make Astrid more... Normal.

Astrid took her wine glass and lightly sighed. She wasn't built for this emotionally. She was trained to be a professional assassin, she trained to watch every single minute detail. It was just her nature... Emotions and momentarily 'relaxing' were wastes of time...

Astrid took a sip of her wine and then looked at Lewis. "Okay." Lewis then smiled at Astrid's response.

Astrid watched as Lewis happily poured himself a drink and took a rose from the center of the table, and moving it onto his lapel.

'Is he that happy? I didn't do anything though?' Astrid didn't know what to do in this situation, she was never trained like this. She might be able to mix in high society, but notions like a 'date' was uncharted territory for her.

But seeing Lewis's eyes, Astrid suddenly felt she should give this a chance, she did use Lewis after all. And she felt no danger around him, she also wanted to understand Lewis's emotions and feelings better. She struggled to read him most of the time...

Lewis looked straight into Astrid's eyes, which were still brown, she continued to use the contact lenses from before. "Do you have to wear glasses?" Lewis then started a conversation.

Astrid nodded. Lewis then showed an expression of understanding. "Mm, I guess keeping in the contact lenses would make sense then." He said with a slight regret. He wondered what Astrid would look like with glasses on... But if she wore contacts, he would never see it.

Astrid nodded...

... Well, the date was awkward to say the least. Lewis then softly sighed as he sipped his wine.

'Come on Lewis, you knew she wouldn't be able to do much in this situation.' He gave himself some self-encouragement as he put down his glass.

"Well... I took the liberty of ordering foods beforehand. Don't worry, I made sure to get most of the menu to be ordered." Lewis gave a subtle smile.

Astrid looked at him, as if asking him something with her eyes... "Oh, I made sure to leave out any fish for you. I guess you didn't like the fish from last night?" Lewis then answered the un-asked question.

Astrid sighed in relief. "Thanks, I don't like fish." Astrid answered as she whiffed her wine.

Lewis hummed. "Why? For being such a foodie I thought you wouldn't be picky about fish." Lewis quite liked fish himself, and he also wanted Astrid to open herself to him a bit more.

"Oh... The smell, I can't the smell of fish. I also just don't like the texture or the taste of it." She answered quite easily, she was never a fan of fish in her previous life but would it eat on rae occasion. But in this life, she started to abhor fish.

Lewis nodded and inwardly sighed in relief. He luckily didn't order any fish for himself...

"What other foods does the foodie not like then? I can't imagine you refusing to eat anything else." Lewis teased, not expecting the answer to be quite in-depth...

Astrid then drank the rest of her wine. "... I don't like nuts either, the texture bothers me. Mmm, I didn't like dark chocolate the first time I tried it on it's own. I can't eat tomatoes either. I eat most fruits apart from berries." Astrid seemed to be seriously deliberating what she did and didn't like.

Lewis was quite stunned. How could such a foodie be such a picky eater? Astrid kept going on and on about the other random foods she didn't like. Some were exclusive to the rich, some were as simple as a fruit and just some herbed bread. It was quite interesting listening to Astrid list off the food she didn't like...

"... I like most desserts I've eaten, I suppose it would be called a sweet tooth no?" Astrid then finally stopped her large listing of food.

Lewis watched her as she cleaned her parched throat with more wine. He might have made a good idea in getting Astrid to drink, she seemed to be a little looser with him.

"Well, talking about food, here is our first course." Lewis smiled as the door opened, revealing the manager bringing in a tray of domes dishes.

Astrid stared at the domes as the manager went ahead and explained the intricacies of the dishes one by one. But seeing Lewis seem a little upset, he stopped the explanation and started to serve.

The restaurant often explained the entire cooking process to the customers before serving, it was to ensure customers of the quality of the produce, and security the food would taste the best possible. But it seemed that this VVIP table just didn't care...

"Enjoy your meal Monsieur, Mademoiselle." The manager left with another bow.

Astrid looked over the starters with a salivating mouth. She didn't pay any attention to the explanations at all. So she actually didn't know what she was eating right now...

Lewis then popped the cork of another bottle of wine. Swapping out the old glasses for new ones. It was quite normal to change wines based on what you were eating. But since Astrid was going to eat so much, he didn't want her to drink a different glass of wine every time... So he went slightly generic with the wine.